Spirit of the Past
by Holy Spork
Summary: Gift fic for freakyanimegal456. Cheresea and her friends discover something odd after a strange magical accident...
1. If Apples Could Fly

This, if you didn't read the summary, is a gift fic for a friend 'o mine, freakyanimegal456.

I didn't originally plan this to be a part of her 'challenge', because I was planning this before the challenge was issued. But, meh, I suppose this kinda fits the conditions. Kinda.

This is a crossover with two different fics: freaky's Tasks of Spirit (which you pretty much need to have read to get any of this, up to chapter 17 anyway), and my Past and Future (which you don't need to have read). Actually, I suppose this isn't as much of a crossover as it is a 'I'm going to drop one of my characters into the universe of her story, set the microwave to defrost, and wait for the fireworks'.

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia and its characters, plot line, and locations are all property of Bandai-Namco. However, Cheresea, Chala, Trethe, and the rest all belong to freaky. In fact, all I'm bringing to the party is one semi-OC, and the degree to which I actually own him is very much debatable. Which makes me sad, because I luff him to death.

Here's for you freaky!

_

* * *

__Spirit of the Past_

Chapter I: If Apples Could Fly

Lloyd was playing with the Eternal Sword.

He wouldn't call this activity 'playing' by any means. If asked, he would probably refer to it was 'experimenting'. The pulsating purple weapon spun in the air, as Lloyd 'carefully' manipulated its mana. So much had been going on recently… there had to be a way for the Eternal Sword to help! He had a sword that could bend space and time, how could there be _nothing_ he could do with it? The Sword must be able to find Nagas' 'perfect host', or find a cure for the Nagithian venom! There just had to be _something_! Thing was, having spent much of the past few years drifting in an alternate universe called the Nagith, he had little time to learn to use the Sword to its greatest potential.

He made the sword fly around in a figure eight, while brainstorming possible ways to use the Sword. He had said before that he was against time-travel, because there was so much that could go wrong. And if he started doing it for good reasons then maybe he would start time traveling for bad reasons.

He tried to make the Sword do the 'cha-cha-cha' while his train of thought continued to wander. Then he got an idea. He gave it a try.

Something went terribly, horribly, dreadfully, awfully wrong.

* * *

Everything was right with the world. That was, everything was right with the world unless one includes: 

1. Kratos is suffering from the effects of Nagithian venom, the effects of which are understood only by two other individuals who aren't going to spill the beans anytime soon. Not even when bribed with cheese or threatened with Furbies.

2. Trethe, Chala, and Cheresea are mysteriously turning into Summon Spirits, a process that is both unpleasant and painful.

3. Kratos is sick and stuff.

4. Raine is pregnant again. As a result of this she eats strange combinations of various substances that even she would probably not consume under normal circumstances.

5. KRATOS IS TURNING INTO A MONSTER! AHHHHH!

6. An evil Summon Spirit named Nagas the Evil is running evilly around plotting evil things. While evilly eating an evil sandwich.

7. Did I mention that Kratos isn't doing all that well?

8. Lerek and Malk are starting to play host to the personalities of the Grand Cardinals from whom they were cloned.

9. Kratos' eyes are all weird, his skin is becoming transparent, and his heart stopped beating… That _probably_ isn't normal.

Aside from that, everything was dandy as a daisy.

It was because of these few little things that made life not dandy as a daisy that a group of individuals were meeting inside the Wilder Mansion, attempting to think of what to do next. These people were the entire Sage clan, the Aurions, a pair of Yggdrasills, and a few Wilders thrown in. Then there was Regal, all by his lonesome, and Noishe, who was having a power nap.

Said group of individuals were having some trouble. But that was okay, because their anemic discussion was suddenly interrupted when the half-elven and angelic members of the group all sensed something BIG.

The only ones not in this category, Cheresea, Regal, Sheena, and Presea, looked at their companions, who had all simultaneously stiffened, as if the room had become suddenly cold.

One of the younger members of the group, Sari, said to Mithos, "Daddy, what was that?"

"What happened?" asked Cheresesa, "You guys all kinda went stiff… is something wrong?"

"A giant blast of mana…" said Chala, her gray eyes distant.

Lloyd chose this moment to come downstairs from where he had been 'experimenting' with the Eternal Sword. When he saw the others, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Yuan stood up and declared, "This mana blast might have something to do with Nagas. We should investigate this as soon as possible."

Lloyd, with a creeping feeling that this 'mana blast' might have been his fault, because he had been experimenting with the Eternal Sword, followed everyone else out of the mansion to investigate.

* * *

In the center of a grassy field, where the 'mana blast' had occurred, there was a figure lying spread-eagled, face down in the grass. 

It didn't move or make a sound for a very long time.

Then it groaned in pain and tried to sit up. When the figure failed at this it flopped back down on the grass. Then it tried rolling over. Several failed attempts and many grass stains later, it had managed to get onto its back (and thus revealing the figure to be a boy of about seventeen) and looked up with disoriented, glazed, red eyes. At least he assumed this was up. It had to be up, because he wasn't inhaling dirt anymore. And dirt was down, right? And that blue stuff that was above him… that was sky, right? Yeah, sky was up, right?

He closed his eyes and tried to shepherd his scattered thoughts. This took a _very_ long time, as whatever had happened to him had managed to scramble the contents of brain very effectively. As soon as he managed to hold a train of thought to the end of a sentence, he opened his eyes again.

_Where am I?_ He wondered. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. He was in the middle of a grassy field, with trees and what might have been a city in the distance. He didn't recognize any of it. He groaned.

After several moments spent trying to regain proper motor functions in his legs, he stood up. He looked around again. Then he tried thinking for a change.

He had been minding his own business when suddenly there had been… a flash of light? That was what it had been, and then he had ended up here, the middle of this… place. To occupy himself, he tried brushing the grass and dirt out of his spiky auburn hair. After a minute had gone by and he had not yet succeeded in his endeavor, he stopped trying. He tried to think what to do next.

His thoughts were interrupted however, when someone finally discovered him.

"Crick-cricket!"

He looked down at a small green insect that had decided to perch itself on his right shoe. It was a cricket, and it was staring up at him, and occasionally making strange chirping noises.

"Crick crickey!" said the insect.

The auburn-haired boy blinked.

"Crickeley crick cricket?" chirped the insect. Had the boy possessed a Cricket-To-English Dictionary, he would have known that the cricket had said, "Do I know you?"

The boy continued to stare down at the insect. The insect examined the boy critically, before cricking, "Crickle, crickey cricket crick!" Which was Cricket for, "I know, you look like Cheresea's grandfather!"

…_Oh dear gods,_ the boy thought, _I _have_ landed in an alternate universe._ "Uh… go away."

The insect's antennae drooped. "Cri-cricket…" said the insect mournfully.

"Shoo," he said, "Just leave."

The insect's antennae stood straight up from its head in anger at this dismissal. With an angry "Cricket!" and an insect's interpretation of The Finger, it leaped off into the grass.

_I wonder if therapy could ever make this moment okay_… wondered the boy.

It was then that someone else discovered him.

"Hey thar!" called a voice behind him, "Are ya lost?"

The boy turned to see a sixteen-year-old girl with orange hair and dirty clothes, accompanied by a vacant-eyed seventeen-year-old boy with teal hair, and a large black and blue cat… thing.

The girl's eyes widened when she saw the stranger's face. "HOLY FRIED MACK'REL!" she shouted, "Ler'k! Lookit! Lookit that! Don' he look like Cher'sea's granddaddy?"

The boy identified as Lerek cocked his head to one side and looked at the newcomer. "He does look a bit like Mr. Kratos." Admitted Lerek.

_Agreed,_ agreed the voice of Forcystus inside Lerek's head, _He does bear an uncanny resemblance to Lord Kratos_…

"Uh…" the auburn-haired boy blinked, "…Who are you people?"

"I'm Malk!" said the girl cheerfully, "And this here is Rafei!" she added, indicating the large cat with the wave of an arm. Rafei stared at the auburn-haired newcomer intensely.

"And I'm Lerek!" added Lerek, "What's your name?"

"Just tell me first, who's Kratos?" asked the unnamed auburn-haired boy.

"He's Cheresea's grandfather," supplied Lerek cheerfully, "He used to be a bad guy working for Cruxis, but he's good now! Except he's sick…" He trailed off.

"…Who's Cheresea, and what's Cruxis?"

Malk stared at the unnamed boy as if he had asked her if apples could fly and sing the Star-Spangled Banner.

"…Ya don' know whut Cruxis is?" said Malk, "Dang boy, _I_ know whut Cruxis is!"

"Then _enlighten_ me," said the unnamed boy, with a certain amount of frustration. Perhaps it came from being thought dim by a girl who spoke with an accent that would shame Larry the Cable Guy.

"Cruxis was dis big bunch 'o angels," explained Malk, spreading her arms to indicate just how _big_ this bunch 'o angels was, "But den Lloyd and his pals beat 'em all to a bloody pulp, dey did!"

…_Just what kind of hellhole am I in?_ Thought the unnamed boy wretchedly. "Uh… how about we assume I've been living under a rock for a few years?"

This commented provoked an unexpected result. Malk wrapped an arm around the unnamed boy's shoulder and said, "Den why don' we take ya ta see Cher'sea and 'er friends?" The unnamed boy said nothing, and tried to suppress the horrible feeling that he had just been violated.

"Hey…" started Lerek, who had apparently been mulling over something since Malk had been talking, "You still haven't told us your name yet."

"Dat's right!" cried Malk, releasing the unnamed boy, "What's yer name?"

"…It isn't Kratos, it it?" asked Lerek, who still seemed deep in thought.

The unnamed boy said nothing.

Lerek's eyes went wide, as the voice of Forcystus presented a theory as to who this unnamed boy was. "Are you like us?"

"Come again?" asked the unnamed boy, wondering just in what way he could possibly be like these nuts.

"Are you a clone too?" asked Lerek, "Quet said the clone of Kratos died, but maybe he was wrong."

The unnamed boy blinked. Oh great, now _clones_ were being added to his already large mountain of Things To Worry About, "I'm nobody's clone!" he protested hotly.

"Dat's whut I thought," said Malk, "Den I foun' out dat I'mma clone a dis ho Pronyma. An' lookit how I turn'd out. So it's not all bad! Kra'os ain't a bad guy, so if yer a clone a' him, dun feel bad!"

Some part of the unnamed boy's brain screamed and died after the end of that speech. It was either overloading from all the weird junk that had been dumped on him since he had arrived here, (wherever that was) or it was trying to save him from Malk's accent.

"I'm not a clone!" repeated the unnamed boy.

"That's what I thought at first," said Lerek, sadly.

The unnamed boy glared a Glare of Doom at Malk and Lerek.

"Eek!" screeched Malk suddenly, "Ya even got Kra'os's scary stare! 'Cept I dun think 'e twitched before..."

"I'M NOT A CLONE!" shouted the unnamed boy, "GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS! _I AM __**NOT**__ A CLONE_!"

"How ya know?" asked Malk, "I didn' know fer da longest time."

"I give _up_!" said the unnamed boy in total exasperation, "If it'll make you feel any better… then fine, I'm a clone of this Kratos person. Now can you just tell me where – "

The action Lerek performed would be best described as a glomp. "That makes you our brother, doesn't it?" said the teal-haired boy gleefully, "I've never had a brother before! I wonder what it's like to have a brother?"

The unnamed boy made a distressed gagging noise.

"Let 'im go Ler'k!" said Malk with some alarm, "'E's turning blue!"

Lerek released the unnamed boy, who gasped for air.

"Sorry brother," said Lerek apologetically.

"…I'm not… your brother," gasped the unnamed boy, "Okay?"

Lerek look hurt at this rejection. His eyes went big and he stuck out his lower lip. The unnamed boy groaned. Some of his younger cousins performed this act, the 'I'm going to cry' thing. It always managed to get on his nerves. Spoiled brats.

"Look, I'm sorry," said the unnamed boy, "I'm just _not_ your brother, okay?"

Malk frowned, "Whoda thunk Kra'os's clone woulda turned out ta be such a jerk!"

"I'm not a cl – " The unnamed boy tried to marshal something resembling restraint, which was, rather unfortunately, something he was not particularly good at. He decided then that he _had_ to get away from these people. But they were both looking right at him. How could he possibly distract a girl with a stereotypical hillbilly accent and her tagalong?

"LOOK OVER THERE! A MECHANICAL SINGING FISH!"

"WHERE?!" demanded Malk, turning the in the direction the unnamed boy had indicated. Lerek looked too, because that was where Malk was looking. Rafei didn't look around, which was why she was the only one that saw the unnamed auburn-haired boy turn and sprint in the opposite direction.

Rafei gave chase.

* * *

A few minutes later, Cheresea and the rest of the group landed in the grassy field where the mana blast had occurred. They found nothing remarkable there. 

"Maybe we got it wrong," suggested Cheresea uncertainly as she surveyed the empty field.

"That was a powerful blast," said Chala, her hands on her hips, "I doubt that we all simultaneously imagined it."

Lloyd was careful to avoid the others without trying to look like he was avoiding them. He still hadn't told them that he thought the mana blast might have been his fault yet. He wasn't entirely sure _what_ had happened yet. The field looked okay to him, nothing was damaged. So maybe it had been a totally harmless mistake.

The possibility of the above statement being true was immediately smashed to little bits when the group saw Lerek following Malk, who was shouting at the top of her lungs, "DER WAS NO MECHANICAL SINGING FISH YA JERK! I'LL SKIN YA FER DAT!"

The silence that fell around Cheresea and the group was the kind of silence that is generally represented by ellipses.

"Do you think we should stop the crazy lady before she _does_ skin someone, or just watch the fun?" asked Trethe with a grin. Sheena smacked him.

"Malk _would_ probably skin someone if she were angry enough at them!" said Sheena, ignoring the pained moans her son uttered, "We should go ask her what the matter is."

They were cautious in approaching the two clones, and when they did, the first thing Malk did was continue to shout, "I'LL SKIN DA L'IL JERK!"

"Malk! It's us!" said Cheresea, "What's wrong?"

Malk turned to Cheresea, and then looked up at Kratos who had been standing behind his granddaughter. Malk pointed to him and said, "Fer havin' such a nice lady fer a granddaughter, I didn' know ya could be such an ass!"

Kratos raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Ya 'eard me!" ranted Malk, apparently unaware of the danger, "Whut kinda guy lies to a girl 'bout dere bein' a mechanical singin' fish?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Kratos sincerely.

Cheresea looked from Malk to her grandfather and back. "Uh… Malk?" she started uncertainly, "What _are_ you talking about?"

"She doesn't mean Kratos as in Mr. Kratos," supplied Lerek, "She means Kratos as in my brother!"

"You have a brother Lerek?" asked Raine.

"I still fail to understand what any of this has to do with me," said Kratos, still unable to unknot this mess of strangeness.

"Well, Malk and I heard a noise so we went to see what it was," explained Lerek, "But then we found a boy there, and he looked lost. He didn't know what Cruxis was, so we tried to explain it to him, but then he wouldn't tell us his name, and then he said he was a clone of Mr. Kratos – "

"WHAT?!" shouted Yuan in a panic, "The clone of Kratos is alive?!"

"At first he said he wasn't a clone," said Lerek, "But then he said he was. So that kind of made him my brother, but then he ran away."

"And dat's when Rafei ran off after 'im!" said Malk, "And dat's where I wuz goin'!"

"Where'd he run to?" asked Cheresea.

"Dat way!" Malk pointed.

They went that way.

* * *

The unnamed boy was still running. If a passerby had seen him running, all they would have seen would have been a seventeen-year-old boy with jeans, a purple windbreaker, and a slightly desperate look, running. They wouldn't have been able to tell that he didn't belong in this time. 

His name was Kratos Aurion.

He was _not_ a clone.

* * *

A/N: ...And if you haven't figured out what that means, then I'll laugh at you. 

If you have been paying attention, you will have noticed that this is going to be a chapter fic. Why?

Because freaky and I have too many ideas to shove into a oneshot, and I'm a chronic overachiever, that's why!

I know I kind of skipped over Cheresea and the others, but I will get to them eventually. I wanted Malk and Lerek to have the spotlight this time, so... yeah.

Malk's accent is a pain in the ass. I hope I didn't screw it up too much...

Review please. You know you want to.


	2. Poof Into Nonexistence

I'm back! Mwahahaha!

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia and its characters, plot line, and locations are all property of Bandai-Namco. Cheresea and the others are property of freakyanimegal456. I just have them on lease.

* * *

Chapter II: Poof Into Nonexistence 

Young Kratos was still running. This was something he was very good at. While he was very fast, he couldn't outrun a protozoan. As a result, he did not discover that he had been chased ever since he ran from Malk and Lerek, until the protozoan Rafei nearly jumped on him. He stumbled and nearly fell, and the looked over his shoulder as he tried to pick up speed again.

He ran as fast as he could, Rafei keeping close behind. He eventually reached the edge of the field, where a sparsely populated forest began. He saw a tree that looked climbable. He scrambled up into the tree with some difficulty. When he looked down again it was to see Rafei slowly inching her way up the tree after him. _Maybe trying to climb a tree while being chased by a big cat wasn't such a good idea_… Young Kratos decided.

He inched his way closer to the trunk of the tree and away from the protozoan, as Rafei heaved herself onto the branch, and turned to fix Young Kratos with a piercing feline stare.

"Nice… kitty," said Young Kratos lamely as Rafei walked toward him.

It occurred to him then that he had two options: become cat food, or jump.

He didn't really want to do either.

* * *

This was around the time when Cheresea and her friends arrived at the tree where Rafei had her 'prey' pinned. Cheresea and the others looked up into the branches of the tree. They could see the shape of Rafei and her soon-to-be prey, but they were partially obscured by the leaves. 

"GET 'IM RAFEI!" shouted Malk.

"Wait!" Cheresea said, "Don't let Rafei actually eat him!"

"M-maybe we can talk about this?" called a voice from the tree.

Yuan and Kratos looked at each other. That voice was familiar.

"We'll call Rafei off and let you come down if you promise to not run away!" said Cheresea to the tree branches. Immediately the others formed a ring around the trunk, so that, if Rafei's prey did come down, he_couldn't_ run away.

"'Oo said anytin 'bout lettin' 'im go?" said Malk crossly, "'E lied ta me 'bout der bein' a mechanical singin' fish!"

"You're really good at carrying a grudge aren't you?" said a voice from the tree. It was followed by a yelp as Rafei made a swipe at him with her claws.

"Malk, please call Rafei off!" pleaded Cheresea, "Just give me a chance to talk to him."

Malk looked up at the protozoan, then back at Cheresea. "Only fer ya, Cher'sea." She looked back up at the tree, "RAFEI! Let da li'l jerk go!"

There was a discontented growl from above, but Rafei soon jumped out of the tree and landed gracefully. She walked over to Malk, looking a little disappointed at the loss of her prey. Her 'prey' had come down with the tree with a little less grace. After getting back on his feet with a muffled curse, he looked over at Cheresea, who he guessed was the leader of this little band.

"Okay," he said, "What do you want from me?"

No one said anything. They were too busy staring. Young Kratos glared at them.

"What?" he snapped.

"G-grampa?!" said Cheresea with some alarm. Young Kratos gave her a 'are you on drugs?' look.

"BROTHER!" shouted Lerek, giving Young Kratos another glomp, "You're all right!"

Young Kratos made a strained gasping noise, before squeaking, "I'm… not… your… damn… brother…"

Lerek released Young Kratos, but looked hurt again. "Yer suck a jerk, ya are!" Malk said irritably, "Lookit poor Ler'k!"

"I'M NOT A CLONE OF THIS KRATOS PERSON, AND I'M NOT LEREK'S BROTHER!" shouted Young Kratos, pretty sure he was near the end of his sanity. But then he would welcome a padded cell now, because that would mean he would be away from the real crazies. "Just who are you people anyway?" he shouted, "What do you want with me?"

Chala decided that things were going nowhere. She decided that it was time to step in. "You're not the one who should be asking questions," she growled at Young Kratos.

He glared at her, "What makes you say that?" he snapped, "You people are the ones that set the rabid cat on me!"

Rafei growled.

"The 'rabid cat' is _why_ you are not in a position to ask questions," said Chala, "Who are you?"

"Give me your name, and I'll give you mine!" said Young Kratos haughtily. The words and the manner in which he said them rang bells in the minds of some of the others there.

Namely, it was Lloyd who thought _He stole my line!_

Cheresea, who thought_, He sounded like Dad_…

And lastly, Old Kratos, whose only thought was _Oh no_…

Chala summoned a small ball of purple electricity, "You see this?" she asked, holding up her hand, still glaring fiery death at Young Kratos, "Tell me who you are, and I might not shove this up your ass!"

"PMSing are we?" said Young Kratos snidely.

"Malk," growled Chala, though she still had her eyes fixed on Young Kratos, "Tell Rafei to eat the punk."

"You wouldn't really – "

Rafei roared.

"Kratos!" shouted Young Kratos, keeping an eye on the possibly homicidal feline.

Chala raised an eyebrow, "That's your name? You gave in pretty easy."

"I'd rather not end up as cat food, Bitchy Blue," said Young Kratos.

A muscle near Chala's left eye twitched. "What. Did. You. Call. Me?"

"Are you deaf as well as dumb?" Young Kratos sneered.

"STOP IT PLEASE!" interrupted Cheresea.

Young Kratos and Chala continued to glare at each other.

"They're really a lot alike, aren't they?" commented Sari, "He could almost be a male version of Chala."

Silence fell like a hammer.

"I'm nothing like him!" Chala shouted, just as Young Kratos yelled, "I'm nothing like her!" They turned to glare at one another again.

"Wait a minute, your name is Kratos?" said Cheresea, who had only just realized the impact of this.

"So?" said Young Kratos, "Look, I want to be here, as much as you. So why don't you just tell me where Libra is, and I'll take off. Okay?"

Yuan and Old Kratos exchanged another glance.

"Libra?" Lloyd scrunched up his face in thought, "What's that?"

Yuan looked from Young Kratos to old Kratos. "_An ui hio ei kae_ _yro gad san pahs_?" Yuan asked Kratos in Angelic.

Kratos seemed to consider Yuan's words. "_Der yros ine fiplan_…_ther ein et san maha expon_."

"_Ranf_ _ein sian o jun kand weir_ _ei whan yros ui_." Yuan said.

Kratos nodded. "_Ayo_."

The others watched this exchange in silence. No one had ever heard either of the seraphim speak in any language other than English. Colette and Zelos could understand a little of the conversation, from their upbringing as Chosens.

Old Kratos looked down at his younger self. Rather predictably, the first thing Young Kratos noticed was how much he looked like the other man. This observation was quickly followed by a second: he noticed Old Kratos' slitted eyes.

"What the hell is up with you?" Young Kratos asked. Old Kratos gave the boy a glare that could set small twigs on fire. "Okay, okay," said Young Kratos, holding his arms up as a gesture of peace, "I get it, it's a sensitive topic."

"I need you to answer some questions," stated Old Kratos, "If you answer them truthfully," he paused, "Then I will not allow Malk to set Rafei on you."

Young Kratos rolled his eyes, "Yeesh, what it is with you people and setting crazed animals on me?"

Old Kratos ignored this, but said, "What is your mother's name?"

Young Kratos blinked, "What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer."

Young Kratos gave his older self a suspicious glance, before saying, "Her name's Mira Aurion."

"And your father's name?"

Young Kratos snorted, "It could have been anything from Bob to Mithos," he said, with a little bitterness in his voice, "I don't know."

Yuan started to fidget. So far the boy checked out.

"What is your best friend's name?" Old Kratos continued.

"Yuan."

Everyone else glanced at Yuan, who didn't react.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Why are you asking me about this stuff anyway?" Young Kratos snapped, "What does my Mom's name have to do with anything?"

Yuan and Old Kratos nodded at one another. "You tell him," Old Kratos said to his old comrade.

Yuan fidgeted again. "I'm afraid," he said to Young Kratos, "That I have some bad news. Libra no longer exists."

Young Kratos stared at Yuan. "What are you talking about? How could a whole city just _stop existing_?"

"Libra was destroyed," Yuan continued, "It was razed during the Kharlan War."

"But…"

"You're four thousand years in the future."

Pause.

"I'm WHAT?!" Young Kratos shouted.

Old Kratos sighed. Lloyd and Cheresea turned to look at him.

"Grampa," started Cheresea, "What's going on?"

"Lloyd, Cheresea," Old Kratos waved a hand in the direction of his younger self, "This is me, as a teenager."

Everyone stared at Young Kratos, who was sure his head was going to explode.

"I'M FOUR THOUSAND YEARS IN THE FUTURE?!" shouted Young Kratos, who was now in the midst of a panic attack, "HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!"

Everyone turned to look at Lloyd.

"O-okay, I was experimenting with the Eternal Sword, and something went wrong, okay?" he said guiltily, "I didn't _mean_…"

"So it's YOUR FAULT?!" Young Kratos shouted.

Lloyd looked around nervously. "Maybe…"

Ten seconds later, Lloyd was lying flat on the ground, clutching his bleeding noise. "Mah nobe!" he whined, "You brode mah nobe! Whud did you do thab for?"

Young Kratos stared blankly into space for a moment. "I dunno," he admitted, "I just had this urge to punch a dumbass in red. You were the nearest one available."

"Why you – !"

Young Kratos shook the hand he used to beat Lloyd's face in, thought about something for a moment, and then added, "That could also be called _vengeance_," he said evilly. His victory was short lived, because this was when his older self grabbed him by the collar and yanked upwards, so the boy hung in the air.

"Put me down!" the younger shouted, writhing and struggling in midair.

"Uh… wow, Grampa," said Cheresea nervously, "I didn't know you used to be such a…"

"Jerk?" supplied her grandfather, a mild note of disdain in his voice, "Yes, I was a little… _prickly_ in my youth."

"That's something else I don't get," said the younger Kratos, who stopped his struggles to cross his arms, "How come you're me, but you aren't a pile of dust? Were you taken out of your time too?"

The older sighed, "No, I'm four thousand years old."

"WHAT?!" the younger shouted in another panic, "YOU'RE FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OLD?! HOW COME PEOPLE AREN'T EXCAVATING YOUR BONES RIGHT NOW?!"

"Be silent," growled the older. With his normal frightening tone of voice, and his new snake-like eyes, he managed to silence his younger self. The younger decided that now was not to time to ask how the older had managed to acquire those weird eyes.

The older Kratos looked over at his son, whose nose had just been fixed with the help of a 'First Aid' spell from Raine. "Lloyd, can you send the boy back home?"

"Uh…"

Old Kratos glared at Lloyd.

"You see…" Lloyd started nervously, "I'm still not entirely sure how to use the Eternal Sword yet…"

"YOU MEAN I'M STUCK HERE?!" Young Kratos shouted, who clearly had no concept of restraint, in total contrast to his older self.

"Will you stop shouting?" growled Old Kratos, "Your behavior is terrible and insufferable."

"Only old geezers like you would use the word 'insufferable'." Muttered the younger.

"You are pushing your luck as it is," growled the older.

"Ooh, I'm terrified," said the younger mockingly, "You won't really hurt me. If I died then you would poof into nonexistence."

"That does not mean," said the older, his voice low and threatening, "That physical pain or mental anguish is out of the question, if you refuse to cooperate."

"Cooperating!" said the younger, sure that his older self _would_ carry out that threat. The older let the younger down so he was standing on his own again.

Something inside Chala went _click_, as she realized what she was witnessing. She ran up to Young Kratos, grabbed him by the collar, and yelled, "FASCINATING!" Then she released him and looked between him and his older self. "SIMPLY FASCINATING!"

Young Kratos backed away a step. "What is she doing…?"

"A TIME PARADOX!" Chala shouted. She turned to Young Kratos, "You are from the distant past! TELL ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE!"

"Uh…"

"Better yet!" Chala said, a terrible gleam in her eyes, "Just let me study you for a minute!"

"S-study me?!" stuttered Young Kratos.

"Just a hair sample! And maybe some blood!"

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"JUST STAND STILL YOU TWERP!"

"AHH! THAT'S STILL ATTACHED!"

"QUIET DOWN SISSY!"

"SOMEONE GET THE CRAZY LADY OFFA ME!"

"I SAID STAY STILL!"

"HELP MEEEEE!"

"STOP SQUIRMING, IT'LL ALL GROW BACK!"

The rest of the party watched this struggle in stunned, horrified silence.

"She's your daughter," said Yuan to Raine. He looked over at his wife when she didn't respond. "Raine?"

"FASCINATING!" Raine shouted, running over to join her offspring, "I'LL HOLD HIM DOWN!"

"AHHHH!" screamed Young Kratos, "HAVE YOU NO MERCY?!"

Trethe, by this point, was rolling in the grass, laughing his head off. His father, and, surprisingly, little Jeremy accompanied him in enjoying Young Kratos' pain. Their respective family members immediately slapped them into silence. Lloyd, Old Kratos, Yuan, Genis, and Cheresea jumped into the mess and tried to disentangle the combatants. Young Kratos was pulled out shaking, mentally scarred by the study session, while Raine and Chala merely seemed disappointed. Things cooled down very quickly after that.

"…Now what?" asked Cheresea.

"We should probably take him back to the manor," said Old Kratos, "At least there he's less likely to be found by Abigal or Nagas."

There was a pause as the others contemplated what those two women would do if they discovered that there were currently two Kratoses running around.

"Abi what?" Young Kratos said, "And what's a Nag Ass?"

"Ignorance is bliss," said Lloyd.

Young Kratos rolled his eyes, "Then you're probably a very happy man."

"Hey! Cut it out!"

"Not until you can get me home!"

"SILENCE!" roared Old Kratos, who was near the end of his patience. He grabbed his younger self by the collar again. "Whoever has the wingpack," he growled, "Please get it out, and get the Rheairds."

Genis, who had been the one charged with carrying the wingpack, quickly brought out all the Rheairds they had. After dumping his younger self onto a Rheaird, Old Kratos, who was clearly Not In A Good Mood, took off. The others followed close behind.

Somewhere only a few yards away, someone watched them leave. She stood in silence until they vanished out of sight. She smiled to herself, exposing one long white fang. Then she said to herself in a soft, deep voice, "Now, this is interesting…"

* * *

Cheresea and the others arrived at the manor in a matter of minutes. Old Kratos dragged his younger self (who was by now continually spouting protests) into the building. The others followed, but a little reluctantly. They had never seen anyone get under the seraph's skin that way before. The general consensus was that, while Old Kratos was in a foul mood, he would have as much space as he wanted. 

Cheresea noticed that Trethe didn't seem to be feeling well as they walked into the mansion. Cheresea tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Hey, Trethe," started Cheresea, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," said Trethe with a slightly strained smile, "I'm fine!"

Cheresea looked worried. "You're sweating…"

Trethe struck a pose, making him look remarkably like his father, "I, the Great Trethe Wilder, am just fine!" Then he added, for good measure, "Completely fine!"

"…If you're sure…"

Trethe winked, "I'm sure."

Cheresea quickened her pace so she caught up with her parents and grandfather, leaving Trethe behind. He was pale, and still sweating.

"It's probably just a cold…" said Trethe quietly to himself, "Just a cold…"

* * *

A/N: (-strokes a white cat, grinning like a Bond villain-) Hehehe... 

I have to admit, the four hardest lines to write in that entire chapter was the Angelic dialogue. I couldn't make it sound natural, no matter how hard I tried.

My favorite part was anytime Chala and Young Kratos interacted. Whether insulting each other, or having a 'study session'.

Merry Christmas everyone! Or just Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas.

I promise I'll update the real Past and Future in a few days.

I'm not babbling, what makes you think I'm babbling?

Review please!


	3. Fetch

I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER!

This fic was _supposed_ to have been done by now, but I was lazy, then I had writer's block, then I got sick, then I had exams, and...

Sorry freaky. :(

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia and all that junk, and a bunch of random OC's don't belong to me. All I own is Young Kratos, and even that is extremely debatable...

* * *

Chapter III: Fetch

After being introduced to everyone, Young Kratos was pretty sure his head _was_ going to explode. He was sure he was not going to be able to keep track of all the names. Hopefully he wouldn't be here long. Lloyd had gone back to 'experimenting' with the Eternal Sword, trying to find a way to manipulate time so Young Kratos could go home. Right now, he was just 'experimenting' with an apple, trying to get used to manipulating the Sword's mana. Everyone else watched him.

"Right…" said Lloyd, concentrating hard on the red fruit. The Sword was towering above him. The apple he was playing with rose in the air a few feet. Then it exploded.

"Take all the time you need to learn how to use the sword," said Young Kratos, who was now covered in apple, as was everyone else.

"I can figure it out!" said Lloyd defensively.

"Stop being so cynical!" said Cheresea hotly.

"That wasn't cynicism, that was sarcasm," said Young Kratos, "There's a difference."

Cheresea glared at him. She couldn't believe that her grandfather used to be such an _ass_!

Raine smacked Young Kratos using all the motherly/teacher-ly authority she could muster, "Neither cynicism nor sarcasm will help you get home!" she lectured, "The least you could do would be to be civil to the man who's going to send you home!"

"Okay! Okay!" surrendered Young Kratos. He rolled his eyes as soon as the Professor's back was turned. _All these people are insane, I swear_...

Then he noticed that Cheresea was giving him a slightly condescending look. "What?" he demanded.

"Why are you always such a jerk?" she demanded.

He crossed his arms, "You guys haven't exactly been all that inviting," he retorted, "Since I was zapped here, I've been nearly strangled twice, I had to run away from a rabid cat that wanted to eat me, your mad friend tried to 'study' me, my older self already hates my guts, I've been dragged around like a piece of luggage, – why are you giving me that look?"

Cheresea fidgeted nervously. He had a point, "I just wanted to say, sorry about the way you've been treated."

"Why the sudden guilt trip?"

"I just... hadn't thought about it before. Everything happened kinda fast."

Kratos didn't say anything.

"Oh, and Chala is mean to everyone," Cheresea added, "It's not just you."

Kratos said nothing.

And then came the inevitable.

"CRICKET!"

"Oh no..."

"Huh?"

Fred appeared at the feet of the two children.

"Cricket!" he cricked urgently.

"What's wrong Fred?" asked Cheresea.

"Fred?" Kratos looked blank, "It has a name?"

If a cricket, a creature without eyelids, could narrow its eyes, that's what Fred did. He pointed an accusing antennae at Kratos and cricked angrily. Kratos blinked.

Suddenly, Fred pulled out a tiny frying pan (from where, it is not clear) and started hitting Kratos' foot with the pan with all the strength the little bug could muster... which wasn't much.

"...Kratos, why is Fred angry at you?" asked Cheresea, a little nervously.

Kratos shrugged, the little Wonder Insect still trying to beat his shoes to a rubbery pulp, "I dunno. Actually, when I first got here a cricket started chirping at me. He could be the same guy. But all I did was tell him to go away..."

Frustrated that his frying pan had done nothing, Fred threw it away, and then started cricking quickly and urgently at Cheresea. He was telling her, in great detail, how both Nagas and Abigal had converged on Meltokio, and were searching for Young Kratos. Unfortunately, Cheresea didn't have Sari's Cricket-To-English Dictionary, so all this was lost on her. She could understand basic Cricket, but nothing as complicated as what Fred was using now. But she hazarded a guess.

"...Do you want another marshmallow?"

Fred glared.

"Why are you talking to a bug anyway?" asked Kratos. Then he added, a little suspiciously, "...Are you sure you're not on something?"

Cheresea glared, "I'd never take drugs!"

Kratos raised his hands as a gesture of peace, "Fine, fine, you don't have to shout."

"CRICK CRICKLEY CRICKET!" yelled Fred.

"Where's Sari?" Cheresea asked of the world in general, "I know she has a Cricket-to-English dictionary..."

Fred, frustrated that he wasn't getting his point across, gave one last angry "CRICK!" and hopped off to brood in a corner.

"...Does that kind of thing happen a lot around here?" asked Kratos.

"Yeah," said Cheresea, as if this was obvious, "Why do you ask?"

"...Nevermind."

There was a pause.

"Hey, there's something... I wanted to ask you about," started Cheresea, "It's kinda personal though."

Kratos shrugged, "I don't mind. What is it?"

"Back in the field," Cheresea started, "You said you didn't know who your father was."

"Ah..."

Kratos fidgeted, "I think it was just a one-night stand," he explained, "And I don't really get along with the rest of my family because my parents weren't married. But don't get all tied up because of it, it's not that big of a deal."

"...It shouldn't matter."

Kratos blinked, "Huh?"

"It shouldn't matter who your parents were, that's what I think," Cheresea said, "My Dad is always saying 'you're still you, no matter what'. You're a good person, I think. That's all that should matter."

Kratos looked at her long and hard, thinking about what she had said.

"...You know, you're not so bad after all," said Kratos, smiling, "Better than the crazy blue one, anyway."

"Hey! She's my friend!"

"I didn't mean to offend. Sorry."

"Well, what do you want to do now?" asked Cheresea.

Kratos looked at the stairs, and then back at Cheresea. He had a mischievous grin on his face.

"Wanna learn a new trick?"

* * *

"WHEEEEEE!"

"AHHHHHH!"

Young Kratos jumped off the banister right at the bottom, landing in a crouch, an action he clearly had practiced many times before. Cheresea, who hadn't slid on banisters before, just slid off at the bottom, apparently in shock. He walked over to her and smiled down at the prone girl.

"Wasn't that fun?" he said, still grinning.

Cheresea didn't move. His smile vanished. "Uh..." he started, worried now, "Are you okay?"

"THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!" yelled Cheresea suddenly, making Kratos jump. "LET'S DO IT AGAIN!"

"Uh..."

Cheresea grabbed her will-be grandfather's arm and dragged him back up the stairs. Shortly thereafter, their previous roles were reversed.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"WHEEEEEEE!"

This time both of them fell ungracefully to the floor after the ride.

"Ow..." moaned Kratos, who Cheresea was now sitting on.

"YAYAYAYAY!" shouted Cheresea.

"What is all the noise?"

The two looked up to see Old Kratos standing over them. He looked very disapproving.

"Uh..." started the younger nervously.

"Get up," commanded the older irritably.

The two minors did so.

Old Kratos glared at his younger self, "You should know better than to be so reckless."

The younger rolled his eyes, "It's not like I was jumping over a spike pit."

"Think about someone other than yourself on occasion, and maybe you won't have so many enemies."

"Look at her!" the younger waved an arm at Cheresea, "She's fine! And she had a blast! Don't be so stiff, you fossil!"

The older glared at the younger, "If anyone gets hurt because of you..."

The younger smiled a smug smile, "You won't hurt me," he said confidently, "You wouldn't want it to be permanent."

"It doesn't have to be," growled the older in a dangerous tone. The younger blanched. Then the older turned on his heel and walked away. When the younger was sure the older's back was turned, he gave his older self the finger, and then stomped off to do what Kratos would always be good at: brooding. This left Cheresea by herself.

She was torn, which one did she go after? She looked in the direction Old Kratos had gone off to, and followed him.

She found him sitting on the sofa, watching Genis and Presesa talking to Sheena. Cheresea approached him slowly.

"Hey… Grampa…"

Kratos looked over at Cheresea, who sat down next to him shyly. There seemed to be something on her mind.

"Is something wrong, Chersea?" he asked.

She looked up at him and shook her head, "No…" she started, "I just, wanted to tell you something." She fidgeted for a moment. For some reason she felt awkward, maybe it was because she wanted to say something about her grandfather's past, which she knew was a sensitive topic. She took a deep breath, and then continued, "I was talking to your younger self, and he mentioned that he never knew his father. He said he didn't really get along with his… your family, because, you know…" she blushed, "Because your parents weren't married. And, that made me think. I can't really imagine what it would be like, growing up without a family's love. I mean, I didn't grow up with Mom and Dad, but you raised me, and you loved me. You were kinda strict sometimes, but you were always there when I needed you, so…"

She wrapped her arms around her grandfather. He was startled by this sudden display of affection, but didn't pull away. She buried her face in his shoulder, and said, her voice muffled slightly, "I love you Grampa. And I don't care who your parents were, or what your family was like, or what you did, or what the venom's doing to you, or anything! You're my Grampa and that's all I care about!"

Kratos' eyes glazed over as he looked down at his granddaughter. A little awkwardly, he wrapped his free arm (the one Cheresea wasn't leaning against) around her shoulders.

"Thank you," he whispered.

His granddaughter looked up at him, slightly puzzled. "For what?"

He closed his eyes.

"For everything."

* * *

"Ugh..."

Trethe felt awful. He was curled up on his bed, shaking and sweating profusely.

"UGH!"

The world went black.

* * *

Young Kratos thought he heard a noise. He looked up, it was coming from upstairs. He looked around, no one else had moved. That was weird, was he the only one that heard it. He stood up, and walked upstairs, trying to recall exactly what the noise had been, and where it had come from. It had sounded like... a thud, maybe? Once he was on the second floor, his eyes followed the rows of doors.

Then he heard another noise, another thud. He tentatively followed the sound, and eventually came to a door that he knew from the brief tour of the manner he had given, that this was Trethe's room. There was another thud.

"Uh... Trethe?" called Young Kratos, loud enough so that he could be heard through the door, "Are you okay?"

No response. He took this as 'no I'm not okay'.

Kratos opened the door. "Trethe, are you - ?" He stopped mid sentence when he saw the lone occupant of the room. He didn't panic, and he didn't say anything. He closed the door, calmly, as if he had found it empty, and then calmly walked back downstairs. He quickly found Cheresea, who was talking to Sari about something.

"Uh… Cheresea?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

Young Kratos glanced around nervously, before asking, "Do you have any pets?"

Cheresea raised an eyebrow, wondering why the hell he was asking this. She exchanged glances with Sari, before saying, "There's Noishe."

"Is he a big fox with about," he paused, "...Nine tails?"

Cheresea blinked. "Uh… no."

"Well, there's a big fox with nine tails upstairs," said Young Kratos, "Unless that's normal around here." He added.

"That's not normal…" said Cheresea. Wait a moment, Trethe's Spirit form was a nine-tailed fox! "TRETHE!" she shouted, and then bolted upstairs.

"Chersea! Wait!" Sari sprung to her feet and followed her friend.

"What's wrong?" Kratos asking, and quickly followed Chersea and Sari. The three children raced up the stairs and the door to Trethe's room nearly flew open at Cheresea's touch.

It was empty.

"That's weird," commented Young Kratos, as the three entered the vacant room, "I could've sworn I saw a giant fox."

"Cheresea," said Sari, "The window's broken."

Cheresea walked over to said window. "Oh no..." She turned to glare at Kratos. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing!" protested Kratos, "I just opened the door! I didn't even come inside!"

"We need to find him."

They all turned to see Chala standing in the doorway. It seemed that she had been standing there for some time.

"Trethe seemed sick before we arrived back at the manor," said Chala matter-of-factly, "It might have been the spirit transformation. If he had changed, then when this idiot," she waved a hand at an indignant Kratos, "Barged in, it probably scared him."

"Then we have to find him before anyone else does!" said Cheresea.

"...Spirit transformation?" Kratos looked blank, "What are you talking about?"

"And you're coming along too, twerp."

"What?!" Kratos rounded on Chala, who had spoken, "I don't even know what's going on!"

"Good," said the Sadistic Queen of Cold, "The less you know the better. We will need you when we go search for Trethe. You saw him, you know what he looks like. We will need all the help we can get to find him again."

"Will I get an explanation afterwards?"

"No."

"...I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Not at all."

"I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Good."

They glared at each other.

"Um..." started Sari meekly.

"We need to hurry!" said Cheresea, "Anything could happen!"

* * *

"Ooh, we gotta find Trethe, the giant fox! Ooh, we ain't gonna tell you what's going on! Damn Chala... gotta remember to punch her in the face sometime... when she isn't about to kill me, anyway..."

Young Kratos wandered the streets, muttering angrily to himself. Chala had decided that it was best to split up in their search for the lost Summon Spirit. Kratos had already gotten bored. The city's population of giant nine-tailed foxes wasn't that large. So, to occupy himself, he vented some general anger.

"What exactly am I supposed to do when I _find_ him anyway?" Kratos muttered, glaring at any passers-by who gave him a weird look, "It's not like I can shove him in a sack. The least anyone could do is tell me what's going on, but _noooo_..."

"Hello there," purred a voice from behind.

Young Kratos turned suddenly, and was met by a very strange sight.

Judging from the long pointed ears, it was an elf woman, with long, sleek, black, hair, revealing clothes, and – ahem – proportions that made certain parts of his brain fizz.

The elf looked at him critically. "Have we met before?" she asked in a deep, soothing voice.

"Uh…" Young Kratos stammered. His experience with females in general was severely lacking. He never had a girlfriend before, or any sisters, he barely knew his aunts, and he didn't even get along with his mother very often. The only woman he had any positive interactions with was Yuan's older sister, who was like, well, an older sister to him. Except their relationship, for the most part, included shouting, long lectures about staying on the straight and narrow, and, on occasion, a hammer. Young Kratos was always on the receiving end of all this, incidentally.

The elf raised an eyebrow. "You look a lot like someone I know," she commented, "What's your name?"

"G-give me your name, and I'll give y-you mine!" stuttered Young Kratos, with a weak attempt at bravery.

The elf smiled. "I think," she ran a finger along the boy's chest as she spoke, "Your real name is Kratos Aurion. And I think we've met before."

Young Kratos shuddered, wishing his head would just explode already, "I-I don't think we have," squeaked the terrified boy, "M-met that is. I d-don't know any elves!"

"I can fix that," said the elf, still smiling, "My name is Abigal. And I think, we're going to have lots of fun, Krats!"

This finally brought the epic battle between pure terror and raging teenage hormones inside Kratos' head to an end.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Kratos in terror, before speeding off, running almost at Mach 1.

Abigal watched him go. She sighed, "You think you know a guy…" she shook her head. There was nothing else for it but to follow him. He would come around eventually.

* * *

Young Kratos only stopped running when he couldn't inhale properly anymore. He leaned against a convenient wall and wheezed for a few minutes. He looked back over his shoulder, to find that the slut – er... elf had not pursued him. He slumped to the ground, completely exhausted. Was there _anyone_ in the future that wasn't completely nuts?

Then he saw Sari running up to him. She opened her mouth to say something, and then noticed the condition he was in.

"A-are you okay?!"

"Fine," wheezed Kratos, "I just... had to run away from a crazy lady. Anyway, did you find Trethe?"

Sari nodded, "Cheresea found him. Chala wanted me to bring you."

Kratos rolled his eyes, "Why doesn't this surprise me?"

* * *

Cheresea had found Trethe holed up in an alley in the shopping district. Cheresea and the others crowded around the entrance, so no one would see the giant fox as they passed by.

"It's okay, Trethe," said Cheresa to her transformed friend, who seemed scared, "We're gonna help you. Okay?"

Trethe whined.

"So... this really is Trethe then?" Kratos asked.

"Yes," said Chala, "That's why we're calling him 'Trethe'."

Young Kratos stared at the Summon Spirit. "Is this... normal for you people?"

"The short answer to that question is 'yes'." said Chala.

"...What's the long answer?"

"I doubt you would be able to comprehend the complexities required for a 'long answer'," said Chala, icicles forming on her words.

"I see... it's _that _kind of situation," observed Young Kratos, "So... what are we gonna do with him?"

"Um..." Cheresea paused. She hadn't thought about that.

"We should try to sneak him back inside the Wilder Mansion," said Chala, "If he stays out here someone else will see him, and we don't want to cause a panic."

"You have a plan then?" said Kratos, "It's not like you can walk a giant fox through the front door."

"Obviously that isn't the next course of action," said Chala, "We'll have to sneak him back inside."

"But how?" said Cheresea, "The window he jumped out of was on the second floor, and if we try to sneak him in on the ground floor, someone is bound to see us!"

Sari smiled, "I have an idea."

* * *

"What do you mean, 'stay out here'?"

"Which part of that is giving you difficulty?" snarled Chala, "We need someone to stay out here and keep an eye on Trethe."

"He can take care of himself!" said Kratos. Trethe, who was standing next to him, nodded furiously.

"We still need a lookout." Chala argued.

Kratos snorted, "Who died and made you ice queen?"

"If it weren't for the fact that one day you're going to be my best friend's grandfather," Chala started, "That would be you."

Kratos crossed his arms. "Fine."

They were standing at the back of the Wilder Mansion, near a door that, Sari said, led into the kitchens. Apparently Sari had some kind of plan, but she, Chala, and Cheresea needed to go on ahead, leaving Kratos and Trethe outside. The two males watched the ladies walk inside. Kratos had a sinking feeling that he had just been abandoned.

He walked over to a wall and sat down, leaning against it.

Kratos looked over at Trethe, who was lying down with his head on his paws.

"So... is this, normal for you?" Kratos asked, "Randomly turning into animals, I mean."

Trethe gave him an irritated look.

"I'm from four thousand years in the past, remember?" Kratos pointed out, "It's not like I know what's normal here."

Trethe rolled his eyes and looked away.

"...What do you think they're doing in there anyway?" Kratos continued, "They're really taking their time. Girls can be so weird sometimes..."

Trethe covered his ears with his paws. He liked it better when Kratos was stoic, scary, and _silent_.

Trethe's discomfort didn't go unnoticed. "Fine," said Kratos a little bitterly, "Be that way."

They sat in silence. Then Kratos got bored. He stood up and started wandering the grounds. He hadn't realized that the Wilders had trees behind their house. Maybe this was where they got some of their fresh food...? Eventually he came upon a stick. He picked it up, and looked back at Trethe. He walked over the the Summon Spirit, curious about something.

"Hey, Trethe."

Trethe looked up, wondering what stupidity he was going to have to face next.

Kratos held up the stick so Trethe could clearly see it. The boy-turned-fox seemed unimpressed.

Kratos threw the stick and yelled, "FETCH!"

Foxes belong to the family _canidae_, to which wolves and dogs also belong. Certain behaviors are hardwired into the brains of such creatures, even Summon Spirits of a certain type. Trethe didn't know this, so he didn't know why he leaped after the stick, caught it in his mouth, and then trotted back to Kratos, dropping the stick at the boy's feet.

They stared at each other in amazement.

Then Kratos almost fell over laughing.

His laughter turned into a yelp of terror when Trethe knocked him over. Trethe stood with his paws placed firmly on the boy's shoulders, growling down at Kratos. Kratos tried not to breathe.

"N-nice... Trethe..." squeaked Kratos pathetically.

Trethe was about to give the boy an injury he wouldn't soon forget, when he remembered that if Kratos got hurt, that might jeopardize Cheresea's existence. Damn time paradoxes. Trethe released his prey and then bolted, spurred on by anger and frustration.

"...Hey! Hey! Come back!" shouted Kratos, getting shakily to his feet, "Please! Come back! Ah... dammit!" He kicked a nearby wall. He got a splitting pain in his foot for his trouble. He was hopping around on one foot, swearing almost until his face turned blue, when he heard a new voice.

"Hello there."

Kratos turned, but before he could find the source of the voice, he was thrown against the wall and pinned there by... a big black wing? Young Kratos looked up.

Nagas smiled back.

* * *

**A/N:** OH NOES!

Hopefully this chapter makes up for my absence. The next chapter is already almost halfway done, so it should be up in a few days.

Oh, and the next chapter will be the last chapter.

Please review.


	4. Cricketfield

NOOOO! IT'S OVER!

All things must pass, I suppose... anyway, here's my thanks for all my reviewers:

**Alaia Skyhawk** (the first reviewer), **crystalwolfberri** (and her unending enthusiasm), **Kitty-Katz-Katz** (who took too much pleasure in Young Kratos' pain), **Mystic Yoshie** (thanks!), **Rini Tsukino** (whose family now thinks s/he's crazy), and last but not least, **freakyanimegal456** (I'm happy you liked this fic so much).

Thank you all for taking the time to review. :)

Here's the last chapter. Please forgive the shortness.

* * *

Chapter IV: Cricketfield 

Nagas stared down at Young Kratos, an eyebrow raised. Kratos squirmed in her grip, but failed to break free.

Before he was able to register the motion, Nagas' tail appeared and the needle tip rested on the boy's neck. He froze. He was completely ignorant about Nagithian venom and its effects. What he did know was that the evil lady was pressing something pointy against his neck where pointy things shouldn't be.

"This is interesting…" said Nagas, smiling down at her prey.

"R-really?" stuttered Young Kratos in horror.

She continued to smiling down at him, a fang protruding past her lip, "You bear an uncanny resemblance to someone I know…"

"I get that a lot," he squeaked, "I'm just… you know, one of those people that looks like a lot of different faces. W-wait, that didn't make any sense, I mean – "

Nagas smiled down at him, which seemed to paralyze the boy. "I think," she said, "We're going to have some fun."

"Hey!" shouted a voice that was horribly familiar, "He's mine!"

Nagas turned and fixed her serpentine eyes on none other than Abigal. The elf had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Nagas.

"Abigalllll," hissed Nagas, narrowing her eyes.

"You already _have_ the older one!" snapped Abigal, "I should get the younger one!"

Nagas released Kratos to turn and glare at Abigal, "What makes you think I'm going to hand him over,_mortal_?"

"You already infected the other Kratos!" Abigal continued, "If I get the boy then it's all settled!"

Young Kratos started to discretely try to sneak away.

"What makes you think I, the Summon Spirit of **Nothingness**, am going to be _fair_?" snarled Nagas.

"I'm going to have my share!" screamed Abigal.

Young Kratos closed his eyes and tried very hard not to listen to the cat fight.

"You and your implants had your chance!" retorted Nagas, "He's _mine_!"

"H-hey!" Abigal looked horrified, "How did you know about that?!"

Young Kratos tried not to be sick.

"Get out of here," growled Nagas.

"Nuh-_uh_!" said Abigal, in a very stereotypical preppy way.

Young Kratos was almost to the corner of the building, when the two women spotted him.

"KRATOOOOOOOS! COME BAAAACK!

"AAAAAAYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

Each woman grabbed one of his legs and started to drag him away from his freedom. He did not go quietly. He clawed desperately at the dirt as the two ladies dragged him away from his freedom. He continued to scream at the top of his lungs. Dignity was for the living, not for people who were devoured by mad ladies who wanted his pants. Kratos stopped screaming and whimpered when the women let go of his feet to grab his arms.

"HE'S MINE!" screamed Abigal.

"HE'S MINE!" screeched Nagas.

Kratos closed his eyes tight shut. _Dear gods, please let someone save me or shoot me in the head!_

His prayer was answered.

He heard a metallic_ shing_ like a sword being pulled out of a scabbard followed by shrieks from the two women. They immediately released Kratos, and he scampered back to the safety of the wall to see what had just happened.

This was when Cheresea, Sari, and Chala burst out of the door leading to the kitchens. They had heard the commotion outside and had come to see what the matter was.

'The matter' was Old Kratos, his sword unsheathed, glaring **DOOM** at Nagas and Abigal.

"I will not allow either of you," he growled, "To take advantage of my younger self."

Abigal turned when she saw Chersea and her friends take out their weapons. Not being an immortal Summon Spirit, she took this moment to flee the scene. Old Kratos turned his attention to Nagas.

"Leave," he commanded.

She smiled at him, "How about, no?"

The older Kratos gripped his sword tighter, as Cheresea, Chala, and Sari nervously dropped into fighting stances. The younger Kratos stood up and nervously tried to think of what he could do. He had a knife, but he didn't know how to properly use it, and even if he did, he didn't think he would be much good against... what had Nagas called herself? The Summon Spirit of **Nothingness**? What was he supposed to do against something like that?

This was generally the time in a story when the hero has some brilliant idea, a revelation that will somehow get him out of the mountain of trouble he's buried under. Too bad Kratos couldn't think of anything, other than throwing a rock at Nagas, but he thought that would be stupid. He tried it anyway.

"Ow!"

Nagas rounded on Young Kratos, who looked terrified. Before she could injure or infect the poor boy, Cheresea and the others ran at her, swords raised.

Ten seconds later, everyone was lying on the ground, bruised and defeated.

"That could've gone better..." moaned Chala.

Nagas looked down disdainfully at her defeated opponents. Worms.

With a 'schlup' sound, her scorpion tale grew. She turned her attention to Young Kratos, who was paralyzed with fear. She smiled evilly down at him.

This was when Trethe, who had heard the commotion, leaped out of the trees and sank his pointy teeth into Nagas' forearm.

Nagas screamed with rage and shook her arm until Trethe detached and landed several feet away. The boy-turned-fox quickly scrambled back onto all four feet and started to growl at Nagas. The other Summon Spirit gave him a wary look. She wasn't worried that he would defeat her, certainly not, but she knew that very soon she would have to abandon her newest host. She couldn't stay much longer.

"Fine," she sneered, "Keep the boy. I will have him... _eventually_."

And then she disappeared using some special Summon Spirit power. At least this meant that no one was seriously injured/infected.

The others got to their feet, amazed by their sudden, and rather anticlimactic, victory.

Trethe stood up. "Is she gone...?"

The others stared in part horror, part embarrassment for Trethe. He hadn't seemed to have noticed yet.

What he did notice is that the women were blushing, and Young Kratos looked sick.

"What?" Trethe demanded, folding his arms across his chest. Wait... he had arms.

He looked down.

"Oh..."

He blushed. He picked a leaf off the ground and used it to try to preserve something resembling dignity. The others looked away, still blushing furiously.

"Hey!"

The others formed a small ring around Trethe to spare his pride as Lloyd suddenly ran out of the mansion toward them.

"Guess what?" he said, looking proud and happy, "I figured it out!"

"Uh... figured what out, Dad?" asked Cheresesa.

Lloyd smiled wider, pointed at Young Kratos, and said, "I know how to get him home now!"

* * *

Fred the Wonder Cricket, was feeling down. 

He sighed as best as a cricket could, and rested his head on his legs. His antennae drooped. The story was almost over, and he hadn't even properly destroyed any dramatic moments! That was what he lived for! He had no purpose in life! Fred sniffed.

Fred looked up, and then his antennae stood straight up from his head.

There was another Wonder Cricket checking him out.

Though a human wouldn't be able to tell, the other Cricket was female. If a cricket, a creature without lips could smile, the female cricket did just that.

"Crick, crickley, cricket," said the female Cricket. She had introduced herself to Fred as another Wonder Cricket. Her name was Fredaline.

"Cricky crick_ Cricketfield_?" Fred asked, blushing a cricket blush. Roughly translated, he had said 'Wanna go see _Cricketfield_?'. He was referring, of course, to a recently released movie by C.C. Crickbrams... easily confused with a similarly named movie.

"Cricket," said Fredaline with a smile. 'Sure.'

Fred and Fredaline the Wonder Crickets hopped off into the sunset, to go see a movie, and then, maybe, flood the world with more Wonder Crickets.

* * *

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" 

"Of course! Don't doubt me!"

"...That isn't helping."

Young Kratos nervously eyed the Eternal Sword floating a few feet above his head.

"I know how to use it now!" said Lloyd, "Do you want to go home now?"

Kratos looked over at his new friends. He would miss them, but he missed his home so much...

"Yeah," he said, "I'm ready."

"Goodbye!" said Cheresea, "We'll miss you!"

There were cries of agreement among the others.

Young Kratos smiled.

"Thanks."

"Time to go home!" said Lloyd. There was a great flash of light as Lloyd activated the Eternal Sword...

...And Young Kratos was gone.

"I'll miss him," said Cheresea dejectedly. Then she added, "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He's home now," pointed out Lloyd, dismissing the Eternal Sword, "I'm sure he'll be just fine."

* * *

"Hey... is he alive?" 

Young Kratos couldn't move. Everything was dark.

"...Should we poke him with a stick?"

"Don't hurt him Cless!"

"...It's Cress."

"Whatever."

Kratos could hear voices. He didn't recognize them. Where was he anyway?

"Mint, do you think you can help him?"

"We don't even know who he is, Klarth!"

Mint? Klarth? Weird names.

Kratos opened his eyes.

A small group of people were leaning over him.

"He's awake!" exclaimed one of the women.

Kratos closed his eyes again. _Oh no_...

_The End_


End file.
